Buffalo Ranch Pasta Salad
Next week is already Labor Day weekend? I thought I would have time to savor every drop of this summer, after the worst-ever Polar Vortex we went through last winter. Instead, it seems like summer has gone by even faster than usual.
It’s really not surprising, considering how much I’ve done this summer: kayaking, a big picnic with friends, several baseball games, a trip to Columbus, a charity event at the zoo, a mini vacation with my mom, a mini vacation with my girlfriends, lake time for the 4th of July, the Ann Arbor Art Fair, the annual Ferndale Pub Crawl, my sangria party, a professional soccer game, camping, and the sinus surgery I just had a few days ago (the only not fun part of my summer, that’s for sure).
Whew, I’m tired just typing all of that.
I took the flavors of buffalo sauce and ranch dressing, but instead of pairing them with chicken (like in my healthy buffalo chicken dip), I just stirred them into a veggie-loaded pasta salad.
Of course, if you wanted to add diced or shredded chicken to this salad, you certainly could. You could even add blue cheese. But I kept this one nice and light with lots of veggies.
![Buffalo Ranch Pasta Salad - A flavor-packed side dish that's a total crowd pleaser! | foxeslovelemons.com](https://foxeslovelemons.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Buffalo-Ranch-Pasta-Salad-2-480x480.jpg)
Buffalo Ranch Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 12 ounces rotini pasta
- 1/2 cup buffalo sauce (cayenne pepper sauce)
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 packet (1 ounce) ranch salad dressing and seasoning mix
- 4 celery stalks, thinly sliced
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain, rinse with cold water, and drain again.
- Meanwhile, in large bowl, whisk together buffalo sauce, olive oil and ranch mix.
- Add celery, carrots, green pepper and pasta to bowl with buffalo sauce mixture; toss to combine. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
We love buffalo anything so this pasta dish is going to have make an appearance on our table soon! You have had a busy summer! My goodness! I’m sorry I missed meeting you at the conference – I was so bummed about that – hopefully next year! Thanks for sharing this delicious dish, Lori!
I know, Marion, I was bummed we didn’t get to meet. I don’t think I realized you were there until I got home! Hopefully next year is right 🙂
It sounds as if you had a busy summer! Pasta salad is one of my favorite foods, and I love that this one looks light and not heavy on sauce… yum!
That’s the way I like pasta salad too, Anne. I hate it when there’s way too much sauce. It just needs a light coating 🙂
Everything is better with buffalo sauce! Love this pasta salad.
Thanks Heather!
Love love love that we were able to meet at the Food and Wine Conference! My boys are crazy for anything buffalo ranch and I can not wait to make this pasta salad for them!!
I was so glad we were able to meet as well! I think your boys will love this 🙂
I swear, this summer just flew by! This pasta salad sounds fantastic, and I just love your idea of adding blue cheese (I don’t think I could resist).
Haha yeah, the real reason it’s not in there is because I forgot to buy it and was too lazy to go to the store 😉 Otherwise, I’d be alllllll about the blue cheese.
What a perfect pasta salad for any party (or any time!). Love the buffalo and ranch flavors…just wonderful Lori!
Thanks Alida! You really can’t go wrong when the words “buffalo” and “ranch” are involved, right? 🙂
What a beautiful dish, lori! And I love the bowl!!!! Fantastic color with your yummy pasta!
Thanks Susan! I use any excuse to break that bowl out 🙂
You could not have made it any easier to make a delicious dish for Labor Day entertaining. Then again, this is too good not to enjoy every day!!!
Thanks Betsy!
Love all of the bright veggies in this pasta salad – I would totally be loading my plate up!
Thanks Katie!
This is my kind of pasta salad!
Yay!
I adore pasta salad and yours with a glass of Riesling looks like a perfect Labor Day treat!
Thanks so much, Emily!
Your pasta looks bright and fun! Enough reason to brighten up the dining room with the family 🙂
Julie
Gourmet Getaways
Thanks Julie!
Your salad looks great! I like that you kept it vegetarian friendly – pasta salads made up of all veggies are perfect for BBQs since you know the grill will be loaded up with tons of meat!
Definitely! If you can’t depend on a pasta salad to be vegetarian, then what is the world coming to? 🙂
Oh, wow! This is the perfect pasta salad to take to ANY summer gathering! I hope you’re feeling better…sinus surgery is brutal!!!
Six day later, and I am *almost* back to normal. Have a follow-up appt. tomorrow to take some splints out, and then I should be good to go. Wasn’t too bad!
What a great summer you had. And what a great pasta salad too. I like the spicy kick of the buffalo sauce in it.
Oh, this one is spicy, for sure 🙂